1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to surgical instruments, and more particularly to T-shaped tension members used in surgical procedures, and even more particularly to a device for packaging these T-shaped tension members and loading them into a slotted needle without requiring a person's hands to handle or come near the sharp end of the slotted needle.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,021 discloses a method and apparatus for fixing a hollow organ of a living body to a body wall using T-shaped tension members (hereinafter referred to as T-fasteners). Examples of surgical procedures which may utilize the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,021 are securing a patient's stomach or bowel in apposition to the abdominal wall, such as as in a gastrostomy or jejunostomy procedure. These procedures are performed to facilitate the insertion of a feeding tube through the abdominal wall directly into the stomach or bowel. Examples of individuals who may require such a procedure includes burn patients, whose daily caloric needs are very high; critically ill, weak or comatose patients who may be unable to swallow food; and patients suffering from a diseased or traumatized esophagus, who may be unable to swallow food. Increasingly, a new class of persons requiring such treatment include patients infected with the HIV virus.
A relatively new method of placing a gastrostomy tube or jejunostomy tube is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,086. In this patent, a laparoscopic procedure is described which utilizes instruments and equipment which passes through the skin and surrounding tissue to the surgical site. The laparoscopic procedures require the use of many instruments and supplies including a nasogastric tube, scalpel, needles, syringes, T-fasteners, a J-guide wire, dilators, a gastrostomy tube, stylet, and water-soluble lubricant.
In the procedure to be described later herein, a "T" head of a T-fastener is inserted into a slotted needle. Because several T-fasteners may be installed during a surgical procedure with the same needle, it is required that a surgeon, or an assistant, repeatedly load T-fasteners into the needle. The risk of a surgeon, or an assistant, inadvertently pricking his finger(s), and thereby enhancing the possibility of transmitting a disease between a member of the surgical team and the patient, or vice versa, with a needle can be reduced by the method and apparatus for loading the T-fastener assemblies into the slotted needle disclosed herein. The method and apparatus of the present invention allow a "T" head of a T-fastener to be loaded into a slotted needle without the surgeon, or an assistant, having to touch the slotted needle near its point, thus reducing the chance of inadvertently pricking his finger.